An afternoon on the Concorde
Thursday, April 13th,
2000
“Welcome aboard Continental 1536
from San Francisco to New York JFK International Airport. This is your captain
Charles Smith along with my colleague Mike Knowles. Our flight to the East Coast should be a smooth one. Air Traffic control and aircrafts ahead of us
have let us know that our flight path is smooth and a beautiful day to fly
across the country. Our flight path will take us over the Colorado Rockies, the
Great Lakes region and onto eastern Pennsylvania before descending onto JFK
international airport. Our flying time is currently planned at 5 hours and 53
minutes landing at approximately 7:30 PM EST, barring slowdowns by Air Traffic
control, we anticipate an on-time arrival. We are currently fifth in line for
take-off from Runway 1L/19R. As we take off, you will see the Golden Gate
Bridge to the left of the aircraft and we will take a turn back again to the
east. Cabin Crew, prepare the cabin for takeoff.”
I sat in the first class cabin
relaxing for the long day and weekend ahead. I was working at Oracle for 5
years and was traveling almost every week for 4 years. I had accumulated a
bunch of airlines miles on Continental and hotel miles on Marriott. One of the
rewards from Marriott was a one way ticket to London on the Concorde and I had
gotten the ticket to London from JFK for Friday, April 14th, 2000 to
spend a weekend in London and stay in the center of the city for the weekend
before returning back to the United States on Monday, April 17th
back to work in Washington DC, where I was consulting.
The trip to the east coast/JFK
airport took an extra half an hour due to air traffic congestion in the
tri-state area since Thursday was the busiest travel day in the United States
due to business travel. The cabin crew were awesome as always on the trip to
the east coast. I made sure I kept hydrated and managed to relax and get
some shuteye. The lunch and dinner was awesome as well and I landed at JFK.
I checked into the Ramada next to
the airport so I could take a shuttle the next day to the airport.
Planning to fly on
the Concorde
I had noticed the Concorde
travel benefit when looking up my Marriott benefits and decided I was going to
accumulate the 200,000 points to get the one way trip on the Concorde from JFK
to London. I had started traveling from July 1996 and had accumulated the
points and I was all set for the trip. I got my visa to London at the embassy
in DC. I was all set for the trip and I had to go to a meeting in Redwood
Shores at the Oracle HQ that week. I had blocked my vacation and hence was able
to leave Thursday. Oracle had chartered the Concorde to show case their new
version of the Oracle Software version 6 which was a key milestone in the company’s
success. All these plus the travel bug made it easy to make the case.
Friday, April 14th,
2000
I woke up early on Friday and
go to the airport. The flight was scheduled to leave at 9AM EST and land in
London at 5:30 PM GMT. Flying time was 3 hours and 20 minutes. The fastest time
for JFK to LHR on the Concorde was 2 hours and 53 minutes set on 7th
of February, 1996. I reached check-in at 7:30 AM was ushered into the British
Airways first class lounge. The thing about the Concorde is that there is no
first class or coach class. The aircraft has 100 seats in a 4 seat per row with
2 per side with 25 rows making it a 100 seater plane. All seats are the same
configuration and not as comfortable as a typical business class or first class
seat on a traditional aircraft. The point of the Concorde was to get you across
the Atlantic whether to Paris or London as quickly as possible. The aircraft has
three members in the cockpit, the main pilot, the co-pilot and the flight
engineer. The cabin crew can be up to 6 making a total of 109 people in the
plane at max capacity.
On this
day, the Concorde had only about 50 passengers on the plane making it a light
transatlantic flight. The cabin crew had 4 members and the flight capacity was
at 57. British Airways boarded the plane and I was able to get a row to myself
with a window seat. The person sitting in front of me on the aisle was
fidgeting nervously and I said hi to a SriLankan businessman who was making the
trip as well. We said hi and sat down for the journey.
In the
cabin in the front, there is a panel which shows the Mach Speed of the plane. I
planned to keep an eye on it as we went through the flight.
The
captain finished all the procedures and began the pushback promptly at 9AM.
Typical British punctuality or JFK’s efficiency was anybody’s guess for that
day. It was a slightly overcast humid April day in New York. The plane was
under the command of MiKe Bannister, who would fly the plane for the final
transatlantic in a couple of years. The Concorde was a safe plane for the most
part and had its own share of safety incidents and was most vulnerable during
takeoff. The Concorde take off speed was 250mph or 400kmph. Most commercial
aircraft would have a liftoff speeds between 150mph for the 737 and 180mph for
the 747 depending on the weight of the plane, runway length and wind/weather
conditions for the day.
On this day, JFK had ground to a
halt on one of its runways due to a plane that had declared emergency and all
planes were on hold in the tri-state area (JFK, LaGuardia and Newark) to allow
this plane to land. By 9:30, the flight that had declared emergency had landed
and the three airports got back to shepherding the planes in and out of these
three airports. LaGuardia was primarily domestic with a short runway, Newark
and JFK had longer runways to allow international aircraft which were heavier
to land safely with extra runway lengths.
The Concorde measured nearly 204ft
in length and stretched between 6 and 10 inches in flight due to heating of the
airframe. It was painted in a specially developed white paint to accommodate
these changes and to dissipate the heat generated by supersonic flight. A team
of about 250 British Airways' engineers worked tirelessly, together with the
relevant authorities, to ensure safety on board and Concorde was subjected to
5,000 hours of testing before it was first certified for passenger flight,
making it the most tested aircraft ever. - Source, BA.com
The Concorde lined up in the
departure sequence as is typical in US airports. JFK has 4 runways and this
day, the Concorde was asked to line up on 13R-31L which was the standard runway
for the Concorde at JFK. This would allow the Concorde to take off and go over
Jamaica Bay with a 25 degree bank immediately limiting exposure to noise to the
surrounding areas. The surrounding communities has sued and were overruled
by the US Supreme Court 23 years ago when it was proved that the Concorde was
not noisy as the Boeing-707’s. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
which administers these three airports had tested noise levels and found that
the Concorde take off speed did not break the barrier of 112 db perceived noise
levels and had come well below 105 db.
The cabin crew finished their
safety procedures and Captain Mike Bannister voice came over the PA system. “Ladies
and Gentlemen, welcome aboard British Airways 4 on the Concorde from New York
JFK to London Heathrow. Our flying time to London is 3 hours and 20 minutes at
an altitude of 60,000 feet. Depending on London Air traffic, we may arrive a
few minutes early but most likely on schedule. We have a fine cabin crew to
serve you today on this short flight. Sit back, relax and enjoy the great
service by our crew. We are 5th in line for liftoff on runway
13R-31L. We will be taking off at 250 mph and slight left over Jamaica Bay and
circle the George Washington Bridge before beginning our trans-Atlantic flight.
Once over the Atlantic, we will break the sonic-barrier and try to get to
slightly over 2 Mach for the majority of the flight until we reach London
airspace. London Weather is partly cloudy and overcast with a temperature of 45
degrees Fahrenheit with a slight wind of 10mph. We should be under-way shortly.
Cabin-crew, prepare for takeoff.”
After taxiing for a few minutes,
the Concorde revved up its 4 Rolls-Royce engines and started increasing its
ground speed to 250mph along runway 13R-31L. It lifted off at the speed of
250mph and banked slightly towards Jamaica Bay and then further higher and over
the George Washington Bridge and then turned east again towards the
trans-Atlantic route to London. I was looking over the Windows and once we went
higher above the GW Bridge, the cloud cover kicked in and the magical skyline
of New York City disappeared from view. The panel on the front of the plane was
still less than 1 mach. Once we got over the Atlantic, the engines would rev up
faster and break the sound barrier. Of course, ensconced in the cabin of the
Concorde, we would not know the breaking of the sound barrier. The flight
continued on its 3451 ground miles or 3000 nautical miles towards London. I5
minutes into the journey, the panel on the front read 1.01 mach and slowly
inched upwards towards the final cruising speed of 2.05 mach and peak altitude
of 60,000 feet. It is said that on a clear day, it was possible to see the
curvature of the earth. But the sky was overcast and hence no luck for that
day.
The cabin crew began its service
and served us drinks and a light lunch as the plane sped towards London. As the
plane reached Nothern Ireland, the plane started slowing down to less than 2
mach as it got towards British airspace. The cabin crew came one more time to
serve a light snack and beverages
Captain Mike Banister came over the
PA system and announced, “Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Captain Mike Bannister
from the flight deck. We are 15 away minutes from London Heathrow and we plan
to land at 6PM GMT. To be courteous to other planes and for Air Traffic
control, we are going to slow down the Concorde to sub-sonic levels and begin
our initial descent into London Heathrow. Thanks for flying with us today and
have a nice stay at London. Cabin Crew, prepare the plane for landing.”
The usual bustle of activities for
preparing the cabin for landing started and the Concorde made its final
approach into JFK. The wheels of the Concorde rolled down smoothly and the plan
slowed down to 187 mph for its final sequence.
The Concorde landed in LHR and we
dis-embarked and I was met by the pilot who wished us all a good time in
London. I got out of the aircraft, picked
up my bag and went towards customs and immigration to my hotel in Central
London.
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